Species name :

Cydonia oblonga Miller
Published in Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, no. 1 (1768)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Cydonia vulgaris

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Rosaceae L. (The Rose Family)
34 species from the Rosaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Quince

Maltese name(s) :

Sfarġel

Status for Malta :

Species that was introduced in Malta after year 1492 and spreads to form established, non-invasive populations. It may become become invasive

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: THEROPHYTE (annuals)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Protected by law: schedule II of legal notice LN200/2011. (Trees protected in selected areas)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Mar-May

Colour of Flowers:

Pink

Habitat in Europe:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Data will be available in the next update of this website.

Botanical Description:

Shrub or tree 1.5-6 m. Shoots at first villous, later glab-rous. Leaves 5-10 x 3.5-7.5 cm, ovate, entire. Flowers 4-4.5 cm in diameter; pedicels short, tomentose. Petals pink. Fruit 2.5-3.5 cm (5-12 cm in cultivation), globose or pyriform, fragrant, yellow, tomentose.

Chromosome number:

2n=34

Distributional range:

Cultivated throughout a large part of Europe naturalized in hedges and thickets in S. Europe and more locally in C. Europe.

Native region outside Europe:

(S.W. & C. Asia.)

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Introduced in Albania, Austria and Liechtenstein, Bulgaria, Corse, Czeck Republic and Slovakia, France (incl. Monaco and Channel Islands but excluding Corse), Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Hungary, Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia), ex-Jugoslavia, Portugal, Romania, Russia and former USSR, Sardinia, Sicily and/or Malta, Turkey (European part)

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

Ab Ar Gg Rf(CS) [dAE(G) cAg Al Au(A) Bl(I M) Bu Ca(H T) Co dCs cCt cCy Ga Ge Gr He cHs Hs(S) Hu It cLi Lu Ma cMk Mo cPo Rm Sa Si cSi(M) Sk Sl Sr Sy cTn Tu(A E) cUk Uk(K)]